J. K. Rowling was inspired by the likes of Dickens and Shakespeare, an
academic has claimed.

Professor Greg Currie, from the University of Nottingham, claims that Rowling taps into classic themes seen throughout literature, including good triumphing over evil, in her stories of the boy wizard, and says her tale has parallels with Oliver Twist.

Prof Currie said the success of the Harry Potter books likes in their 'vivid portrayal of people in testing times' and our fondness for imagining ourselves in the main characters' shoes.

Despite this, he also notes that while characters in novels are often motivated by their character traits, in real life our actions are more likely to be motivated by the circumstances that we find ourselves in.

He highlights the parallels between Harry Potter and Oliver Twist. Both heroes start out in difficult circumstances, with their births shrouded in mystery. Circumstances then appear to take a turn for the better - Oliver becoming part of Fagin's gang and Harry leaving the Dursley's for Hogwarts.

However, both continue to face enemies - Bill Sykes and Lord Voldemort, and go on to endure great suffering. And Prof Currie claims that the popularity of these books lies in their readers imagining themselves in place of the tortured lead characters.

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Professor Currie, said: "People are strongly attracted to the idea that they themselves are basically good and yet they are put upon by other people who are not good.

"And that of course is the position that Harry Potter starts his life in.

"In such stories we imagine ourselves triumphing over adversity. But research suggests that our behaviour, unlike the behaviour of our favourite heroes and heroines, has little to do with our characters.

"What you end up with is people in stories whose behaviour is driven by their character much more than real peoples behaviour is driven by their characters.

"There is quite a lot of evidence coming in from social psychology that real peoples behaviour is not much determined by character traits like honesty and integrity.

"Its much more determined by the circumstances that they find themselves in."

He added: "Despite the fact that our favourite fictional characters may be less like us that we think, this doesnt seem to change the fact that great characters are close to an essential in the great novel."

"Writers have tried to get away from the vivid-character formula, but if you want people to read your novels in their millions, it does seem as if youre going to have to go back to this notion of character and give people what they want."